Rally Just Starting, Buy Banks: Manager

Stock markets are just at the beginning of a larger rally which could see the major indexes jump another 20-to-30 percent and banks are the best bet, Michael Browne, portfolio manager from Sofaer Global Research, told CNBC.

“We are going to see an earnings rise from 2009 to 2010 … We are very much at the early stage of this rally,” Browne told CNBC.

Investors should look to banking stocks as “you’ve got to look at where people are not invested,” he said.

The banking sector is where the problem is being solved, which is why it could lead the recovery from here, according to Browne.

Banks led the recent bounce in the stock market with most financial shares rising sharply. But many investors are wary of ploughing cash into a sector that still recovering from a major crisis of confidence.

The recent fund manager’s survey from Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch showed confidence in global stocks was improving fast. But Browne points out that the survey shows a lack of interest in banks.

“Amazingly the Merrill survey out this week shows that people are still and increasingly underweight banks, it is quite barking mad,” Browne said.

“Everything I see from every survey from every direction tells me that the vast majority of portfolio managers are not positioned for this at all,” he said.